Janata Samajwadi Party formed after unification of Rastriya Janata Party Nepal (RJP) and Socialist Party Nepal is on the verge of split even before the unification is formally recognized.
The party is on the verge of split on the issue of positions and sharing of power.
Socialist Party leader Upendra Yadav has proposed himself as the powerful chairman of the central committee, and Mahantha Thakur and Baburam Bhattarai for the ceremonial positions of party coordinator and federal council chairman.
RJP has rejected the proposal outright and proposed Thakur as the central committee chairman and Bhattarai as the chairman of federal council instead.
RJP leaders accuse that Yadav has started to show apathy toward unification after the RJP sent the proposal.
"The unification was done on the basis of equality and there should be sharing of every position on the basis of equality," a RJP leader told Setopati.
RJP and Socialist Party Nepal had hastily announced unification late in the night on April 22 to prevent split in the latter.
Leaders from both RJP and Socialist Party now say that Yadav does not need party unification after the hastily announced unification on April 22 served the purpose of saving his party from split.
RJP is a party formed after unification of six different parties run collectively by six leaders who take turn as presidium coordinator while Yadav has been running Socialist Party singlehandedly even after unification with Bhattarai-led Naya Shakti Party Nepal.
The 45-day deadline for submission of the list of signature of the central committee members of both the parties, and statute and manifesto of the united party to the Election Commission for formal recognition of the unification expires on June 8. New process for unification will have to be started if the deadline were not met.
The two parties also differ on the issue of Constitution amendment bill to amend the schedule of the Constitution, wherein the map in the coat of arms does not include the territory including Limpiyadhura, to implement the new map. While Socialist Party is likely to vote for the bill, RJP seems set to vote against.
Socialist Party feels uneasy about standing against expansion of the country's map, according to a party leader, despite it not accepting the Constitution and demanding it be amended first to address the demands of Madhes-based parties. RJP, on the other hand, is set to vote against the bill brought by the government that has ignored its demand to amend the Constitution.
Leaders in both the parties, however, agree that the issue of Constitution amendment to implement the new map is only a side issue and the major obstruction is differences on the issue of power-sharing.
While Yadav will not accept any position apart from executive chairman, RJP will not allow him to lead the united party singlehandedly as he has been leading Socialist Party Nepal.
The only concession RJP is likely to offer Yadav is joint chairmanship of the unified party along with Thakur.
Yadav has also taken the proposal of RJP to make Thakur the central committee chairman and Bhattarai the chairman of federal council as RJP's ploy of playing within the Socialist Party and sidelining him in the plains.
The two parties had hastily announced unification late night on April 22 to prevent split in the Socialist Party abetted by Prime Minister (PM) KP Sharma Oli.
The government on April 20 had brought an ordinance allowing splitting of a party with support of 40 percent in either the parliamentary party or the central committee. The act about political parties requires support of 40 percent in both the parliamentary party and the central committee to split any political party.
Seven lawmakers of Socialist had prepared to split the party capitalizing on the ordinance that made splitting of parties easier. The two parties had hastily announced unification to thwart that.
The united party was to use the flag of Socialist Party and election symbol of RJP, umbrella. Mahantha Thakur was to be the top ranked leader for the interim.
Both the parties have 17 seats each in the House of Representatives but Resham Chaudhari of RJP, however, is suspended after being sentenced in a criminal case.
Socialist Party has 30 seats in Province 2 assembly and leads the provincial government there while RJP has 25 seats.
